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Silence, secrecy, and shame can isolate us from the care and connection we need. I offer a space where you can feel safe, seen, soothed, and secure, as we explore your experiences with curiosity and compassion. Together, we’ll work to understand what’s happening beneath the surface and help you find a path toward healing. Whatever you’re facing, you don’t have to go through it alone.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

Maya Angelou

About

Kia ora! My name is Lisa, and I am a daughter, wife, mum, and mental health therapist based in Upper Hutt, New Zealand.

I meet my clients with warmth, acceptance and respect, offering personalised psychological support grounded in science and compassion. My approach integrates cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), schema therapy, and attachment-based models, especially when working with developmental trauma or relational wounds. I consider the whole person: your biology, psychology, social world, and personal history.

How I Can Help

Individual Therapy for Emotional & Mental Health

I offer therapy tailored to your specific needs, using gold‑standard, evidence-based interventions. You do not need a diagnosis to see me. We will begin by investigating your situation together, untangling the underlying causes and triggering events that led to your current difficulty, and identifying the specific ongoing cognitive and behavioural processes that are maintaining it. Empowered by this shared insight and new understanding, I will guide you through a process of personal growth and inner transformation at a pace that feels safe and sustainable for you.

Depending on the particular nature of your difficulty, there are specific therapeutic techniques or approaches that may support our work together. For example, the most effective treatment for OCD is exposure and response prevention, depression requires behavioural activation and cognitive therapy, while anxiety disorders can be tackled head-on through graded exposure, behavioural experiments and cognitive restructuring. In the case of complex or developmental trauma, we will draw heavily on schema therapy and attachment principles to help us shift those longstanding emotional patterns rooted in early childhood experiences and interpersonal harm.

Parental Support & Conscious Discipline

I offer parenting consultations based on the most up-to-date understanding of our children’s developing brains and core emotional needs. My work is aligned with the philosophies of Dr Tina Payne-Bryson, Dr Becky Kennedy, Dr Vanessa Lapointe, and Prof. Dan Siegel. Together, we can explore how to foster emotional security, manage challenging behaviours with connection, and break intergenerational cycles of shame and reactivity.

Relationship Dynamics

Relationships can be our greatest source of comfort, and our greatest source of pain. I work with individuals to explore their relational patterns, heal attachment wounds, and develop healthier ways of communicating, setting boundaries, and expressing needs. While I do not offer couples counselling, I can support you to understand your conflict cycles and do your own internal work that will have a meaningful impact on your relationship.

Location & Fees

I work in a shared counselling space on Main Street, Upper Hutt, alongside a registered counsellor and an educational psychologist. My fee is $145 per 1 hour appointment.

Limitations of Service

There are a few areas where I may not be the best fit:

• Diagnostic Assessments: Although I am clinically trained, I have not yet completed the research component of my qualification and am therefore not registered as a psychologist. This means I am unable to provide formal clinical diagnoses (e.g. Intellectual Disability, Autism, ADHD). If you are seeking a diagnosis for yourself or your child, your GP can refer you to public health or guide you to appropriate services such as a registered clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. For assessments of Specific Learning Disabilities like dyslexia, I recommend a Registered Educational Psychologist such as my colleague Wendy Ryan.
• Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): While I am open to working with clients who have a diagnosis of BPD, I do not provide Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), which is the gold-standard treatment for this condition. I would always recommend working with a clinician who specialises in this approach if at all possible, particularly because the group-based skills component is so valuable for building emotion regulation skills, addressing self-harm and reducing suicidality.
• Autism Spectrum Support: If you are autistic or seeking therapy for autism-related challenges, I recommend contacting Autism New Zealand to connect with a clinician who has extensive experience in neuroaffirming care. While I can help you explore the underlying factors contributing to anxiety, depression, social difficulties, sensory overwhelm, or selective eating, the most effective support will come from someone who works deeply in this area and can offer tailored strategies informed by specialised expertise. In the meantime, I highly recommend The Autistic’s Guide to Self-Discovery: Flourishing as a Neurodivergent Adult by Sol Smith.
• Couples Therapy: I do not offer joint sessions with couples. If you and your partner are seeking relationship therapy together, I recommend working with a therapist trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), an attachment-rich, evidence-based approach for improving relationship connection and closeness. I also recommend Sue Johnson’s book Hold Me Tight, and any educational videos or books by Terry Real.

All counsellors and psychologists should engage in regular supervision. Lisa is supervised by Registered Clinical Psychologist, Lucy Reynolds.